The Financial Survival Network is dedicated to helping you build your financial fortress so that you can survive and thrive in the new economy. It's all about what's next!

Are you fed up with the non-stop failure of the American educational system? We may finally be at the cusp of a solution. The combination of technology and the current system's un-sustainability, could lead to sweeping change and improvement of education at every level. The wealthy always had access to the best tutors to make their children literate. Public education was created to allow the non-wealthy to do the same. Unfortunately the system become classroom/lecture based, rather than student centered, thus the personal intimacy of tutorial education was lost.

The advent of the Kindle/Nook/iPad could be an important part of the solution. While the quantity of information and downloadable books and courseware has never been greater, information management and the ability of a parent to choose the courses and publications, that they feel will be the most advantageous to their children, could mean a new golden age in American literacy. Plus, many universities are making their best educators and courses available at no cost on the web.

At the same time. traditional classroom education has hit a brick wall. On a price vs. performance basis, much of the educational establishment should have been shuttered long ago. However, teachers' unions and their political benefactors have turned schools into indoctrination centers that seem completely unconcerned with their students functional illiteracy. The parents are forced to idly sit by, while their children's futures are gutted. But economics and technology are quickly finding a way out. And more importantly, those who escape this tyranny will be free-thinking productive members of society pursuing their dreams and passions from a very young age.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at347-460-LUTZ.

Trace Mayer's blog, www.RuntoGold.com, in addition to precious metals investing, covers a wide range of topics. Trace is an attorney, entrepreneur, author of The Great Credit Contraction, and an all around renaissance man. He reviews his trend predictions for 2012 and believes that all is not lost. Technology is freeing more and more people to pursue their dreams and their passions. Debt slavery is a major challenge, but the collapsing financial debt driven paradigm should liberate many from debtor servitude.

More importantly, people must take an honest inventory of their financial and personal assets and liabilities. Before taking on large amounts of student debt, young people must be absolutely certain they will achieve a positive return on this large investment. But first, we must survive the current economic crisis. The need to find viable career alternatives which provide sufficient income and personal satisfaction is greater than ever. Trace is someone who has been very successful in this regard.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at347-460-LUTZ.

If you're worried about the latest price decline of precious metals, then listen to Ranting Andy's latest take on the smack-down. Andy and I agree: it's all smoke and mirrors, so you shouldn't be deceived. You have nothing to lose but your fiat currency. Simply put, this latest smack-down is just another last ditch survival ploy by the elite world financiers. However, this tactic is destined to fail because worldwide debt growth has gone geometric; there's simply no way to pay it off. There will be subsequent massive debt defaults, either through inflationary devaluation of fiat currencies or by countries that simply accept the obvious and cut off the flow of debt repayment dollars.

Andy and I joke that the .45 caliber round may one day become the universal currency unit. But seriously, there will be much pain for you if you refuse to recognize the truth and embrace the concept of sound money. Therefore, your choice is simple, buy gold and silver at steeply discounted prices, or wait for your bank balance to become irrelevant. The crisis has spread to every continent in the world and there definitely wont be a Chinese White Knight riding to your rescue.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

We're back with our weekly discussion with The International Forecaster, Bob Chapman. Although the gold slam down continues and the price per ounce has dropped to a record low, Bob reminds us to remember the difference between paper and physical investments. Precious metals are a long-term investment. Don't be fooled by the mainstream media reports of the Christmas retail boom. The economy is not recovering, Sears and Kmart have announced the closing of over 100 stores and have left thousands of more people unemployed. The lesson of the day: buy while the buying is good.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

We recently posted to the site www.DailyKos.com, a site for thinking progressives. While many people view our current economic situation as one of right versus left, The Financial Survival Network has always viewed it as Man versus the State. It is not a question of government doing more, but rather an issue of government expansion. As the government grows and does more, it perpetually destroys the civil liberties that our nation was founded upon. These liberty infringements are perhaps the most disturbing aspect of our political system. While the parties espouse very noble doctrines, their actions belie their philosophy. The end result is quite clear, a totalitarian state where individual rights are subsumed by the State's drive for self-preservation and its insatiable need to expand.

The defining issue of our time: should the rights and freedoms of the individual be paramount, or should they be subsumed by or within the state? To address this question, one must look at the manner in which all governments operate when depriving their citizens of their individual freedoms—the government always has a “noble” motive. Drugs, for instance, are illegalized; therefore, in order to prevent drug smuggling, the financial transactions of individuals must be strictly controlled and monitored. Consequently, if a computer tags you as a drug dealer and you're not, well that's just the price that must be paid to stamp out this invidious problem. The end result is as the government grows stronger, the individual becomes more enslaved.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Richard F. Miniter has an intriguing article in AmericanThinker.com. Richard believes the advent of the Kindle and the Nook will lead education back to its original methods, namely autodidacticism. In his article, A World Without Schoolteachers, Richard describes personal experiences and references a large body of evidence supporting the fact that home-schooled children routinely out perform their public school rivals in standardized testing as well as national spelling and geography bees.

However, home-schooling isn't for everyone. If a parent is not available due to work demands, then who will supervise the student? We don't want to end up with the worst of all possible worlds, one where unsupervised home-schoolers are free to wreak havoc around town. Perhaps a combination of homeschooling and a reduced role of public schooling is what is needed since certain courses, especially math and science require classroom demonstrations and experiments. One thing is certain, distance learning over the internet is having and will continue to have a profound effect on education at all levels. Many top flight universities, such as Harvard and Stanford have published numerous courses on the internet for free.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Our political system, which has failed us before, seems to be failing us again. Our elected leaders are run by the corporatism and bailouts of Wall Street and everyday are pouring more and more money into antiquated federal programs. In the last five or so decades, federal income tax receipts have remained fairly constant, yet the tax burden has indubitably gone way up. Simply put, it has been shifted from income tax to other less visible taxes and has allowed government spending in the area of payments for individuals like Medicare, social security, and food stamps to increase at an alarming rate. The government has entered so many non-governmental functions that it has corrupted the private sector by attacking small businesses. Gerald ford said it best, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”

We have lost sight of what our political system is supposed to do, and we’ve failed at protecting the free market. Our founding fathers believed in limited government and low taxes-they foresaw the fiscal problems we have today, and they would agree that taxing the rich wouldn’t solve the long-term deficit problem.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

The city of Troy, Michigan says no thanks to federal stimulus money. In a 4-3 vote, the Troy City Council turned down 8.5 million for the development of a multi modal transit center that has been in the works for over a decade. The transit project called for a combination of high-speed rail, bus, and taxi and would have created a hub for a regional system clearly missing from the city. While no one would object to investing in a city’s future, the problem so aptly stated by Mayor Janice Daniels is “there’s nothing free about government money.”

Federal money comes from taxes, but the government hasn’t increased taxes—so where is the 8.5 million coming from? It is being printed from out of thin air, as the government continues to borrow from the Federal Reserve and subsequently diminish the purchasing power of the money supply. The government continues to destroy wealth by spending money that it doesn’t have and taxing its citizens in the name of corporate welfare.

Troy has set the standard for the economy recovery. Take heed towns, counties, cities and states; reject federal dollars and let the private sector fund such projects.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

When overtaxed and overburdened citizens finally reach their limit, they vote with their feet and their wallets. Roger Keats, a lifelong Illinois resident and local political figure, finally reached his limit. He and his wife, Tina, are moving to Texas, and their reasons are simple: no income tax, lower sales and real estate taxes, less corrupted government, and the list goes on. He's fed up with corrupt Illinois politics, where the last 5 out of 9 governors have been indicted for graft. He mentions that indicted public officials are so numerous that perhaps they should get fitted for their prison wardrobe upon swearing in.

The Illinois Keats describes is a total cesspit. Honest citizens and taxpayers have no means of escaping the excessive confiscatory taxation that perpetuates Illinois' corruption. The only feasible option is to move to another less corrupted state. And this trend is unmistakable in many other states, such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, California, Michigan, Ohio, etc. Until the corrupt governmental unions are weeded out and limited government makes a return, these states are all on the road to bankruptcy.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Jason Burack joins the Financial Survival Network to discuss the deflation versus inflation argument. The non-Austrian economists keep mistaking sinking asset values, such as falling home prices, as deflationary in nature. However, Jason feels that this is a misperception of an underlying trend. Falling prices in the face of an escalating money supply cannot be perceived as deflationary. While the price of commodities keeps going up, so will inflation. He is not willing to bet on the inevitability of hyper-inflation, but he is certain that inflation will continue upward.

Next we discuss uranium and rare earth metals. Jason states that nuclear power is an indispensible and growing part of future energy production. And the new technologies coming into use will make nukes virtually failsafe and able to produce large quantities power with low quality uranium ore. Unfortunately, the US has squandered its lead in this essential technology and the Chinese will be leading the way in the implementation of this technology. But there will be a pertpetual shortage of uranium from 2013 onward.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

I got some unexpected great news today. A watch that my friends at Tarrytown Jewelers spent the past several years marketing for me finally sold. I had almost forgotten about it and was completely shocked to hear the news. I immediately decided to take the proceeds and buy some gold or silver there, but there was bad news on that score. While they had some gold in stock, they had purchased it several weeks before the recent decline. Therefore, they were unwilling to sell it at a loss and I was out of luck. You really can't blame them. why should they sell for a loss. They figure that if they hold it for a few more weeks or months, eventually it will go up. And, in my opinion they're probably right.

But, you have to realize there are a number of opportunistic buyers/sellers of bullion for whom it is not their primary business. Rather in the course of their main business, the opportunity often arises for them to buy and sell bullion. While the profit margin is low, so is the risk. They are willing to take the risk for a small but steady profit. However, when precious metals prices hit the fan, they can sustain temporary loses. So rather than simply dump the metal, they take it off the market and wait for prices to rebound. And like a self-fulfilling prophecy, this is what usually happens. When enough sellers act in this matter, supply decreases and demand catches up, leading to price rises. So this story is instructive in how these fragmented decentralized physical metal markets actually function.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

JB Glossinger is an extreme example of what happens when motivation meets technology. He has had the number one self-help podcast on iTunes for many years. Inspiring thousands around the world to reach for the stars, Glossinger has shown us there's no limit to what we can achieve, if we set aside our preconceived limiting beliefs and embrace the concept of allowing ourselves to become the success that we were meant to be.

When someone is able to go from being a virtual unknown one moment, to a one man sensation the next, we all need to listen. I listened, and JB became one of my mentors and inspirations in helping me to connect with so many thousands of people around the world. It's time for me to share the inspiration and the overwhelming positive message that JB routinely dispenses. He has a knack for making people believe they're capable of so much more than they ever thought possible. If you like what he has to say, join him daily at www.MorningCoach.com.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Ward Amirault is a loyal listener who saw the golden light over three years ago. His wife was retiring and had some significant retirement assets that needed to be properly invested. At the same time, the global financial collapse was well underway. Because Ward was able to separate himself from the failing paradigm, he invested in precious metals and is quite happy with the results. However, he is concerned that the time will come where he must sell off a portion of his metal holdings to support him and his wife in their retirement.

Many people will be confronted with similar circumstances. They purchased gold and silver at the right time and have held on to it through many rallies and pull-backs. But at some point their current income will run out and then it will be time to start cashing in on the metals. However, this should always be a last resort. When we look back in history, we will probably see that the current slam down in the metals markets was a disguised buying opportunity that caused a precious few to panic. However, the majority are holding tight and know that eventually their market judgments will be vindicated.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Our weekly discussion with "Ranting" Andy Hoffman continues. The lengths the powers that be continue to stoop to, in an effort to keep the system from blowing up never ceases to amaze. Today, Bank of America was hitting the $5 mark, which has been a clarion call to the elite financial proprietors to do anything necessary to keep the system alive, even if it means destroying investors around the world. When Andy studies the charts, he sees these transparent maneuvers that have been used over and over again. However, now they are becoming less and less useful and are in fact actually counter-productive. It's like trying to catch falling knives, the danger is obvious, but it is hard to get out of the way.

And most importantly, Miles Franklin and every other reputable bullion seller in the world is not getting any opportunity to repurchase bullion from existing customers. This is strictly a one way trade, where the dealers sell their bullion to customers, wherein it disappears into unnamed storage facilities, never again to see the light of day.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Those who do not learn from the past (and lets face it that's most of us) are condemned to repeat it. When I was 15 years old my parents made me read the biography of Charles Ponzi. They felt that if I learned about this scammer it would help protect me in the future, when I would hopefully make my fortune. What I learned from that book, is that if something is too good to be true, it generally is. While I can't say that I've never been scammed, I will say that I haven't been scammed too badly, other than by Wall Street.

And this ties in perfectly with our current economic and social state of affairs. An article I read is calling the Treasury Market The Last Ponzi Scheme. The US Treasury Market is booming largely because of the financial turmoil in Europe. This has led to a rush to buy Treasury Securities as a so-called "safe haven." While this formula seems to be working right now, driving prices up and interest rates down, it won't last forever. The US Dollar is the best looking horse in the glue factory. When Europe is resolved, and it eventually will be, attention will turn back to the Buck and everything it stands for. And when people see there's nothing behind the curtain but a printing press, it will be game over.

There's been a lot of controversy in the non-mainstream media concerning the latest iteration of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, specifically the provisions of Senate Bill 1867 (Indefinite Detention). The law was passed by the full congress after several modifications concerning detention of enemy combatants. Without a full reading of the full statute, I too was alarmed, especially after it was passed with so little fanfare. However, this controversy appears to be much ado about nothing. A closer examination reveals that this is effectively a modification of the orginial Authorization to Use Military Force that was passed on September 18, 2011, in the aftermath of the 9-11 Attacks. The language of the statute deals directly with al Qaeda and Tale-ban members/associates. There appears to be nothing in the statute to expand it's applicability to members of FreeRepublic.com, RedState.com or other right thinking sites. While there certainly is a potential for abuse, as we have witnessed with the Patriot Act on numerous occasions, on its face this law doesn't appear to be the final death knell to the US Constitution.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Gold has fallen from the mid $1700's to just under $1600 now. If you listen to the mainstream media, and we can't understand why you would, this represents the popping of the precious metals bubble. These financial know it all's are literally frothing at the mouth, they are so excited about the prospects of gold and silver having a down year. Well, in a super-bull market, there's nothing unusual about one or more down years. This situation has occurred during numerous bull markets in stocks, commodities and virtually anything else you can think of. As J.P. Morgan once quipped, "The market will tend to fluctuate." Which shows that when you know which way the market is heading, you really don't need to watch the daily price unless you're looking to buy or sell.

And through the lens of time, this moment in history will prove that if one had resources and a confident opinion, this was an excellent time to buy. Any takers?

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Chris and I finally find some time to sit down and talk. He's just released a new video entitled Technical Difficulties, which deals with the emerging paradigm shift we are all encountering now. This led to a discussion of what our educational system is all about and how it stifles individual creativity and is often just aimed at making people buy into the "Party Line," and forget that they were put on this earth for a purpose. We both agree that there is more to life than taking home a paycheck and watching the latest reality TV show. We are both answering what we hope is a higher calling, which we agree has led to much gratification and sense of purpose.

It was a little more than a year ago when I started my broadcast career. Chris had been doing his economic educational web based learning for a while, but it all seems to have come together in 2011 for both of us. Gratitude does not begin to explain the way we feel about the opportunity to connect with people from countries all around the globe. We are eternally thankful to those souls, who looking for answers, have graced us with their presence. And we both recommit to making 2012 even more productive and exciting to us and to you, our bosses for whom we gladly toil.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

David Morgan and I discuss the orchestrated precious metals smash down. Volatility is the buzz word of the day. To long term metals investors, this type of slam down is a routine occurrence. It happens over and over again, and each time the mainstream media is shocked by the force of the action. Whether you believe that the end of civilization as we know it is upon us, or you believe that the world will find a way, these are extremely uncertain times that require everyone to be prepared for the most unlikely of events.

David still has a shine for many precious metals stocks, that he believes are trading at extreme discounts. It's times like these that require serious and seasoned investors to simply filter out the noise and concentrate on the fundamentals. And the fundamentals are unchanged and perhaps more favorable to the metal sector than ever before. Governments have gotten neither spending, nor debt under control and don't seem to be very inclined to do so in the near future. This means that until people and governments start to live within their means, not much is going to change and the outlook for gold and silver is quite bright.

So buckle your seatbelt, put on your earplugs and charge ahead. Silver at less than $30 and gold under $1700 per ounce is a virtual fire sale.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster is back with an important message for all of you scared precious metals holders. Stay the course and buy more if you can afford to. And if you haven't bought any yet, what are you waiting for? This is a classic precious metals takedown, orchestrated by The Fed, The Treasury and numerous central banks around the world. And if we know anything about market manipulation, it's that it can only be effective in the short run; in the long run markets always assert themselves and find their true price level.

Jon Corzine should be getting fitted for wide striped suits right now, but Bob says he's an Illuninati and is therefore immune from prosecution. But even the illuminati can get locked up for stealing billions and lying to Congress. Will Jon Corzine be brought to justice, write us and let us know your thoughts.

Bob will be placing more buy orders this Monday 12-19-2011. He's too savvy an investor to ever get taken in by a head fake. Are you?

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Daniel J. Mitchell of the Libertarian oriented Cato Institute writes in Forbes that the European Central Bank has finally taken the red pill. They've figured out that the greatest obstacle to a society becoming wealthy is out of control government. It sure took them long enough. But eventually even central bankers figure things out. Governments have always been the greatest enemy of the common man. By taking power over economic policy and then attempting to control outcomes they eventually do far more harm than good. Keeping interest rates low is a time proven method for blowing bubbles that eventually pop at the worst possible time. This is exactly what has occurred in the US for the past 100 years since the Federal Reserve was passed through congress.

The solutions to this conundrum are not pleasant and will cause far more pain than if this was never allowed to happen. There isn't a government in the world that is willing to cut its budget by 50 or more percent, even though it is in the country's best long range interest. Therefore, they are running from the collapse towards a greater collapse. This theme has been play out continually throughout human history and it is in the process of being done yet again.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

James Turk and I talk about the interesting times that we're all living through right now. As the founder of Goldmoney.com, James has a ringside seat on the financial chaos that has been sweeping the globe. Even though the prices of gold and silver have recently been hammered, James sees no rush by Goldmoney account holders to sell off their metals. The current downward price spike has taken place mostly on the world commodity exchanges, rather than in the physical market place.

It is probably just a matter of time until the decline ends and prices resume their 12 year bullish trend move, once again making new all-time highs. MF Global, while not a pivotal financial event in terms of the scale of actual losses suffered, has raised the issue of counter-party risk and begs us to question what really happens to your money or shares when you put them in an account. If Jon Corzine doesn't know where that $1.2 billion went, how can any ordinary investor have confidence that their account wont blow up and leave them with an unsecured bankruptcy claim? So it all comes down to owning assets that have no counter-party risk, gold and silver.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Ranting Andy Hoffman is back on the show to discuss the most recent attack by "Da Boyz" in an attempt to convince the populace that everything is fine and that nothing can go wrong. However, even while the price of precious metals appears to go down, there is no evidence of any physical gold and silver holders are paying any heed. They are holding on to their metals caches and even using the brief dip as an opportunity to load up on more. Perhaps they know something that the rest of the population doesn't.

As Andy stated, there is a twelve year trend of increasing precious metals prices. Nothing that has taken place in the last two days has done anything to make any metals investors believe the sky is falling. Silver is being consumed at a rapid rate. Not enough is being produced to make up for the deficit. That sterling silver flatware that you once got as a wedding gift from your dicey in-laws, could one day be your financial salvation. Time will tell.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Chuck from Dont-Tread-On.Me called with an explanation as to why the general public seems so unable or unwilling to accept the cataclysmic economic events that are rapidly appearing on the horizon. Thanks to millions of years of avoiding predators by developing reflexive coping mechanisms, the human mind is often incapable of responding to imminent threats with immediate action. Examples abound from Katrina to 9/11 to the current ongoing economic collapse.

Unfortunately, it seems as if our political and economic leaders have fallen prey to the same affliction. Thus we are all left to the mercy of unfolding economic calamities and we will have to fend for our own survival. This is no longer a luxury that we can afford.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.

Michael Snyder joins us today to discuss the impending global economic collapse and what you and your family can do to survive it. The statistics are bleak, but you shouldn't allow yourself to become a statistic. We are obviously near a new inflection point in the ongoing collapse saga. Most people refuse to even entertain the possibility, that life as they know it is going to change dramatically in the months and years ahead. Easy credit and the ability to shift vast amounts of debt around the globe is rapidly coming to an end. Those who recognize the new reality and have prepared for it, will not only survive but thrive in the New Economy.

Michael has written a number of recent articles that clearly demonstrate the United States and the World are becoming poorer by the day. Illusions of prosperity aside, standards of living will decline and unemployment will increase to pandemic proportions. The need to adapt and invest in yourself has never been greater. The ability to create new income opportunities and to assist your friends and neighbors will make all the difference.

Please send your questions to kl@kerrylutz.com or call us at 347-460-LUTZ.